Jaguars are incapable of going the distance

Gene Frenette

Sunday

Nov 29, 2009 at 10:16 PM

SAN FRANCISCO - Maybe it's too good to be true this year, the notion of believing the Jaguars can really be a playoff team. Whether the issue is jet lag, immaturity or personnel limitations, any franchise with postseason aspirations can't be this deficient so far away from home.

Sixty-one to three! That just can't happen, getting outscored by such an abominable margin on two West Coast road trips.

Not when both opponents - first that 41-0 October debacle against the Seattle Seahawks, followed by Sunday's self-destructing 20-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers - have a losing record and are winless in every other game against your AFC South rivals.

Going to the Pacific time zone has been the Jaguars' dead zone, and that kind of frightening pattern suggests this team isn't good enough to sneak into the playoffs. Their 6-5 record and being right in the thick of the wild-card hunt is a reason for optimism, but the way Jack Del Rio's team performed at Candlestick Park indicates that playing in mid-January is at least a year away.

"It hasn't looked good, so maybe there's something to it," quarterback David Garrard said of the team's disastrous long-distance trips. "If we come back [to the West coast] in the playoffs, we have to make sure we know what we're doing."

Playoffs! You're talking about playoffs!

Mathematically, the Jaguars are still very much in it, but they looked so out of it yesterday in a game that was of paramount importance to their postseason chances.

Forget this nonsense that they could afford to lose because it was an NFC opponent. The Jaguars basically shelved any margin for error down the homestretch, meaning it's almost imperative now that they beat

the 11-0 Indianapolis Colts on

Dec. 17 or the New England Patriots on the road (where they've never won) the following week to secure a bid.

And that's presuming Jacksonville can win its next two home games against Houston and Miami, which, based on the Jaguars' pattern of raging unpredictability, is no guarantee.

The franchise running back, like so many other Jaguars, was at a loss to explain why a team coming off three consecutive wins could return to the left coast and make so many inexcusable errors.

It seemed like every offensive penalty was a big one that stalled drives. Whether it was third-and-long or third-and-1, the usually reliable Jones-Drew and Garrard, who put up 307 passing yards, couldn't move the chains when it absolutely mattered.

Garrard had two costly red-zone fumbles. But in his defense, the offensive line protection broke down so quickly, he had no chance to even glance upfield to see if anybody was open. One of the fumbles didn't matter because he was getting sacked on fourth down anyway.

"Just overall on third downs and red zone, we were just pathetic," Garrard said. "I have to do a better job of taking care of the ball, knowing that people are around me by either tucking it away or getting the ball out faster."

That last statement is Garrard being a good teammate, not wanting to point fingers at anybody except himself. But the truth is, the Jaguars' offensive line (six sacks) didn't have the quarterback's back anywhere near at an acceptable protection level.

"I don't know if the communication wasn't there or what," said offensive tackle Eben Britton. "We got David hit way more than he needed to be. I don't know why."

There was a lot of things about this performance that defied explanation. Jones-Drew, the team's best player, wasn't asked to carry the ball a whole lot until the outcome was almost decided. Garrard picked up a bizarre-looking intentional grounding penalty. The Jaguars had linebacker Clint Ingram trying to cover dynamic tight end Vernon Davis on a fourth-and-1, which resulted in giving up a 30-yard pass.

And maybe the most puzzling thing of all, seeing placekicker Josh Scobee miss two relatively easy field goals, including a 21-yarder that clanged off the left upright.

"That's really frustrating," said Scobee. "That's just not me."

That seems to be a recurring pattern for the Jaguars. Get on a plane to the West coast, and turn into a team that nobody recognizes.

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